Security of an ideal system for quantum key distribution can be formally proved. However, technological imperfections of real systems can be misused by an eavesdropper to get information about the key without causing a detectable change in the error rate. An example of this is the blinding attack where the eavesdropper manipulates detectors of the receiving party. To avoid such an attack, technical modifications of the device are usually required. In this paper we show that an extended measurement, similar to the Bell test measurement, can reveal the blinding attack without any modification of the device.
Security of an ideal system for quantum key distribution can be formally proved. However, technological imperfections of real systems can be misused by an eavesdropper to get information about the key without causing a detectable change in the error rate. An example of this is the blinding attack where the eavesdropper manipulates detectors of the receiving party. To avoid such an attack, technical modifications of the device are usually required. In this paper we show that an extended measurement, similar to the Bell test measurement, can reveal the blinding attack without any modification of the device.
Abstract Quantum key distribution (QKD) systems are open systems. Thus, an eavesdropper can actively influence the elements of the system through the communication line, altering their regular operation. One known attack is an attack with detector blinding. With such an attack, the eavesdropper can obtain the entire key and remain undetectable. The paper proposes a fundamentally new method of detecting and protecting quantum cryptography systems with phase coding against the attack with avalanche detector blinding. The proposed method is based on diverting a part of the input signal in the receiving terminal to bypass the interferometer and deliver it to the same avalanche detectors. Measuring the detector response in different time windows, both for the bypassed signal and the normal operation range, one can effectively identify the ongoing detector blinding attack. The method does not require radical changes in existing quantum cryptography systems and is quite universal, since it can be used for any phase-coded quantum key distribution protocol. The method provides a fundamental strategy of detecting and protecting against the attack at the level of the quantum key distribution protocol, and not at the level of technical ‘patches’.
In real-life implementations of quantum key distribution (QKD), the physical systems with unwanted imperfections would be exploited by an eavesdropper. Based on imperfections in the detectors, detector control attacks have been successfully launched on several QKD systems, and attracted widespread concerns. Here, we propose a robust countermeasure against these attacks just by introducing a variable attenuator in front of the detector. This countermeasure is not only effective against the attacks with blinding light, but also robust against the attacks without blinding light which are more concealed and threatening. Different from previous technical improvements, the single photon detector in our countermeasure model is treated as a blackbox, and the eavesdropper can be detected by statistics of the detection and error rates of the QKD system. Besides theoretical proof, the countermeasure is also supported by an experimental demonstration. Our countermeasure is general in sense that it is independent of the technical details of the detector, and can be easily applied to the existing QKD systems.
In a practical quantum key distribution(QKD) system, imperfect equipment, especially the single-photon detector,can be eavesdropped on by a blinding attack. However, the original blinding attack may be discovered by directly detecting the current. In this paper, we propose a probabilistic blinding attack model, where Eve probabilistically applies a blinding attack without being caught by using only an existing intuitive countermeasure. More precisely, our countermeasure solves the problem of how to define the bound in the limitation of precision of current detection, and then we prove security of the practical system by considering the current parameter. Meanwhile, we discuss the bound of the quantum bit error rate(QBER) introduced by Eve, by which Eve can acquire information without the countermeasure.
Recently, to bridge the gap between security of Measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI-QKD) and a high key rate, a novel protocol, the so-called detector-device-independent QKD (DDI-QKD), has been independently proposed by several groups and has attracted great interest. A higher key rate is obtained, since a single photon bell state measurement (BSM) setup is applied to DDI-QKD. Subsequently, Qi has proposed two attacks for this protocol. However, the first attack, in which Bob's BSM setup is assumed to be completely a "black box", is easily prevented by using some additional monitoring devices or by specifically characterizing the BSM. The second attack, which combines the blinding attack and the detector wavelength-dependent efficiency, is not explicitly discussed, and its feasibility is not experimentally confirmed. Here, we show that the second attack is not technically viable because of an intrinsically wavelength-dependent property of a realistic beam splitter, which is an essential component in DDI-QKD. Moreover, we propose a feasible attack that combines a well-known attack-detector blinding attack with intrinsic imperfections of single-photon detectors. The experimental measurement and proof-of-principle test results confirm that our attack can allow Eve to get a copy of quantum keys without being detected and that it is feasible with current technology.
Abstract An avalanche single-photon detector blinding attack is one of the methods for quantum hacking of quantum key distribution (QKD) systems. The attack was experimentally demonstrated for both phase- and polarization-encoded QKD systems. During this attack, an eavesdropper knows the entire key, does not produce errors and саnnot be detected. However, the phase encoding has neglected some significant features of the photocount statistics in the receiving party. It is shown in the paper at the level of fundamental principles that this attack changes the photocount statistics and leads to the detection of an eavesdropper. Expressions for the secret key length are obtained for this attack. This does not require any changes in the design and control electronics of the phase-encoded QKD system, and only changes in processing the results of registration of quantum states are sufficient. At the same time, the secret key vulnerability and compromise in polarization-encoded QKD systems is an existing fact rather than a potential menace.
The fundamental quantum mechanics prohibitions on the measurability of quantum states allow secure key distribution between spatially remote users to be performed. Experimental and commercial implementations of quantum cryptography systems, however, use components that exist at the current technology level, in particular, one-photon avalanche photodetectors. These detectors are subject to the blinding effect. It was shown that all the known basic quantum key distribution protocols and systems based on them are vulnerable to attacks with blinding of photodetectors. In such attacks, an eavesdropper knows all the key transferred, does not produce errors at the reception side, and remains undetected. Three protocols of quantum key distribution stable toward such attacks are suggested. The security of keys and detection of eavesdropping attempts are guaranteed by the internal structure of protocols themselves rather than additional technical improvements.